A Few Pinot Noirs and a Chardonnay

• 2006 Loring Wine Company Pinot Noir Hartley Ostini Blend - USA, California (11/25/2016)
  This is an example of a wine that I had the best intentions of drinking much younger but never made it happen. The color is showing its age. Slightly brown around the edges. The nose has candied cherries but also a bit of VA. Big fruit on the attack but not much complexity. Cherry and a little bit of spice. A tasty wine but I think a missed it by about 5 years. Drink up if you have it.
  
  
• 2011 Domaine Drouhin Oregon Pinot Noir Laurène - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley (11/24/2016)
  Showing much more elegance than the 2012 but still pretty ripe for a 2011. Not some much of the Dundee Hills big cherry. Having some pomegranate and cranberry mixed in. Needed 60 minutes of air to start opening up. Good to drink now with a brief decant or wait 2-4 years.
  
  
• 2012 Domaine Drouhin Oregon Pinot Noir Laurène - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills (11/24/2016)
  Although I have found many 2012s that I have enjoyed, this one fit more in with the norm. Ripe red fruited aromatics. At this stage cherry flavors dominate. There is okay acid but I didn't notice much tannin. Still very primary so 3 -6 years might help the balance. The palate is very round, like many 2012s.
  
  
• 2014 Aubert Chardonnay Eastside Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley (11/24/2016)
  Brief note. This was too much for me at this stage. Fatiguing from the get go. If drinking now, make sure to have the wine on the colder side to help mask the alcohol burn.
  
  
• 2005 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Russian River Valley - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley (9/16/2016)
  Probably not a wine meant to wait 11 years on but I still had a bottle bouncing around in my locker. Popped and poured. Big juicy aromatics. Cherry liqueur and pineapple stand out. The aromas were fun in small doses. The fruit was still fairly fresh but some stewed elements. Absent of any noticeable tannin. Drink um if you got um. (86 pts.)

Cheers,
Jason

[David M. Bueker]

It will be interesting to see if the IPOB/NewCalifornia Pinot style has better aging potential than the high octane Pinots.

It will be interesting to see if the IPOB/NewCalifornia Pinot style has better aging potential than the high octane Pinots.

Yeah. I mean guys like Ted Lemon, Burt Williams and others have proven it can be done. At least 10-20 year wines. Sometimes more. Obviously Loring and KB were meant to be drank way earlier than I did. My general impression is that the new wave of IPOB producers is that the wines work for the mid term but might not get "better". And it seems many of the vintages have been pretty hot.

I haven't had as many California PNs lately. Who would you name as IPOB style producers?

Jason

[David M. Bueker]

Ceritas is at the top of the list. Arnot-Roberts is another that takes the style pretty far. There are others of course, but I find those two are at the extreme end.

Ceritas is at the top of the list. Arnot-Roberts is another that takes the style pretty far. There are others of course, but I find those two are at the extreme end.

Cool. I see the names pop up but don't recall tasting either. At least not the PN. Winex has a lot of Arnot-Roberts. Would you say this applies to other things like Cab, Syrah and Chardonnay.

Jason

[David M. Bueker]

Syrah and Chard from Arnot-Roberts and Chard from Ceritas for sure.

I don't have enough experience with the Cabernet from either to comment.

Last August I had a 2006 Loring Pinot Noir from Clos Pepe that was still quite enjoyable. I have one from Shea Vineyard from that vintage that I will consume soon and also one from Garys' .

Last August I had a 2006 Loring Pinot Noir from Clos Pepe that was still quite enjoyable. I have one from Shea Vineyard from that vintage that I will consume soon and also one from Garys' .

I'm not sure what the sources were for this Loring. I'd be curious about the Shea. A dreadful vintage but you never know.

Jason

[Jenise]

Are Auberts always high in alcohol? I had one yesterday--LOVED IT--but 15.2%. That impressively didn't show it, I have to add--it was a 2010.

Are Auberts always high in alcohol? I had one yesterday--LOVED IT--but 15.2%. That impressively didn't show it, I have to add--it was a 2010.

They are always high in alcohol. I don't buy them but it is a staple at my parents house, so I seem to have 6 - 10 bottles (glasses) every year. For my palate they can be all over the map. Sometimes they have tremendous power and complexity and other times they are clumsy and hot. I don't recall every having one beyond 7 years old. They seem to hold up very well but it is hard to imagine the heat going away. My favorite bottling was the Quarry but I think he lost that vineyard.

Jason

[Jenise]

Are Auberts always high in alcohol? I had one yesterday--LOVED IT--but 15.2%. That impressively didn't show it, I have to add--it was a 2010.

They are always high in alcohol. I don't buy them but it is a staple at my parents house, so I seem to have 6 - 10 bottles (glasses) every year. For my palate they can be all over the map. Sometimes they have tremendous power and complexity and other times they are clumsy and hot. I don't recall every having one beyond 7 years old. They seem to hold up very well but it is hard to imagine the heat going away. My favorite bottling was the Quarry but I think he lost that vineyard.

Jason

Good to know. I've had very few of them, to be honest. The '10 we had Friday was markedly different than the 09 I had in June--different vineyards but the differences that stand out to me in memory have more to do with the contrast in vintages vs. vineyards. And we had two tastes of that 09, day of and day after, when it showed best but, fair warning, it was in the company of a 75 Y'Quem and a '95 Huet Cuvee Constance. In the company of other dry chardonnays from cooler vintages, it could have been a blood bath.

Good to know. I've had very few of them, to be honest. The '10 we had Friday was markedly different than the 09 I had in June--different vineyards but the differences that stand out to me in memory have more to do with the contrast in vintages vs. vineyards. And we had two tastes of that 09, day of and day after, when it showed best but, fair warning, it was in the company of a 75 Y'Quem and a '95 Huet Cuvee Constance. In the company of other dry chardonnays from cooler vintages, it could have been a blood bath.

There are lot's of Aubert bottlings as well. I am not totally sure about the single vineyard bottles but I thought they were in the $$80-$100 range. There is too much chardonnay out there for less and I generally enjoy them more.

Jason

[Jenise]

Same wavelength. We had a Liquid Farm Golden Slope last week--I can't imagine a chardonnay I could enjoy more. Much as I liked the Aubert last week, I'd rather have two (maybe three) bottles of the LF for the same money.